Race to lead D.C. lawyers' association grows heated amid attacks on law firms

Attendees clasp inverted U.S. flags, a motion of distress, during a rally organized by the Bar Association of San Francisco successful enactment of attorneys and instrumentality firms targeted by President Donald Trump connected May 1. Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images hide caption

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Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

Election play is nether mode successful Washington and the candidates are not holding thing back.

The contention to pb the nonprofit D.C. Bar Association is taking spot astatine a precarious infinitesimal successful nationalist politics—and that's reflected successful the rhetoric connected the run trail.

"I've been a subordinate of the D.C. Bar for 30 years and this is the archetypal clip that the predetermination has generated this benignant of interest," said Bob Spagnoletti, the main enforcement serviceman of the ineligible group.

One of the 2 candidates moving for barroom president, which is mostly an administrative role, is Brad Bondi, the younger member of President Trump's Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The contention comes arsenic the Trump medication has punished large instrumentality firms due to the fact that of their partners and clients, lobbed rhetorical attacks against judges, and fired vocation lawyers astatine national agencies.

Spagnoletti said much than 30,000 radical person already voted successful the election. That's much than triple the erstwhile grounds acceptable successful 1990.

Some of that involvement was connected show precocious astatine a reception to conscionable the candidates.

Diane Seltzer, the different campaigner successful the race, is an employment lawyer who operates her ain tiny firm. Seltzer told the assemblage astir the fearfulness she's proceeding from lawyers crossed Washington.

"We're nary longer acrophobic of, 'What if I'm not prepared' oregon if I missed a lawsuit I should person known," Seltzer said. "We're virtually acrophobic of unspeakable consequences conscionable for doing our jobs."

Seltzer said she's listening to those radical and making their concerns the halfway of her campaign.

"My precedence is making definite that the regularisation of instrumentality is upheld, that we consciousness that we are harmless to bash our jobs and that we tin spell guardant each time representing the clients we choose," she said, to a circular of applause from lawyers who attended the reception.

The barroom president mostly plays an administrative relation and has nary accidental successful lawyer discipline.

Seltzer is moving against salient securities lawyer Brad Bondi, the lawyer general's brother. Bondi has represented billionaire Elon Musk and the Trump Media and Technology Group.

On a Zoom forum past week, Bondi explained wherefore he's successful the race.

"I'm moving to pb our barroom with the aforesaid attraction that I've brought to serving my clients, to teaching astatine Georgetown and George Mason instrumentality schools, to raising my 5 children," helium said.

Bondi said the barroom is astatine a crossroads—and that it should steer wide of governmental debates.

"I request your ballot to support our barroom apolitical, arsenic it's meant to be, and I request you to dispersed the connection to your colleagues," helium said.

So far, Seltzer has racked up endorsements from astir 2 twelve erstwhile D.C. Bar presidents.

George Conway is simply a salient professional of President Trump and his Justice Department. Conway drew nationalist attraction to the predetermination a fewer weeks ago, erstwhile he posted astir the race connected Instagram.

"I'm asking you to vote—and astir importantly, to ballot against somebody—to ballot against Brad Bondi," Conway said.

Conway is not a subordinate of the D.C. Bar and he's not eligible to ballot there. But his video seems to person struck a nerve.

The National Review mag wrote a story headlined, "Don't Blame Brad Bondi for His Sister."

And Bondi utilized the contented to knock his opponent, astatine the online campaigner forum past week.

"She posted connected her societal media claims that I was progressive successful a conspiracy to destruct the regularisation of instrumentality and was an existential menace to the country," Bondi began.

Seltzer interjected to situation his assertion, prompting Bondi to clarify that helium was talking astir Conway's societal media post, that his children had seen.

Seltzer replied that nary of those words had travel retired of her mouth.

Then, the moderator stepped successful to extremity the debate.

Voting for the D.C. Bar statesmanlike predetermination ends June 4. Results volition beryllium announced a fewer days later.